Jaque Fourie aims to resume his midfield partnership with Jean de Villiers.

Three unrelated injuries allowed Adrian Jacobs to win 11 Test caps in 2008 and take ownership of the Bok No 13 jersey, while a frustrated Fourie watched events unfold on television.

‘Adrian did really well for the Boks last year, which was great for him and the team, but I back myself to get back into the side,’ says Fourie, in the latest issue of SA Rugby magazine.

The midfielder also explains how his time away from the game allowed him to get his life in order and prevented him from suffering a World Cup hangover like many of his team-mates. He reveals why he has turned down several lucrative offers in order to stay with the Lions, why he doesn’t overanalyse his game or like video sessions, and why he’d love to play against Brian O’Driscoll in the British & Irish Lions series.

Also in the new issue:

– In 2006, financial mismanagement culled the Southern Spears rendering a potential rugby hotbed dormant. In 2009, Saru announced the South Eastern Cape would launch their new franchise with a tour fixture against the British & Irish Lions. We probe the key players on lessons learned, future Super Rugby involvement and whether this franchise is financially capable of retaining their young talent.

– While Stefan Terblanche is 33 years old and hasn’t played for South Africa since the 2003 World Cup, his recent performances for the Sharks have put him back into Bok contention.

– Reds flyhalf Quade Cooper aims to become the complete package.

– Blues hooker Keven Mealamu on why he hates playing in Pretoria, the impact of New Zealand’s player drain, reclaiming his All Blacks jersey, and why he wouldn’t blame South Africa for ditching Super Rugby in favour of Europe.

– The NZRU made R20 million by staging a Bledisloe Cup match in Hong Kong last year. While SA Rugby’s plans for a Test on neutral turf have failed to materialise, acting MD Andy Marinos says it’s only a matter of time before the world champions play in a money-spinner of their own.

– Fourie du Preez on his hunger to succeed, why he hates some of the new laws, his Bok battle with Ricky Januarie, playing flyhalf, what would tempt him to leave the Bulls, and his coaching ambitions.

– Duane Vermeulen turned down attractive offers from overseas clubs and another from the Sharks in order to play for Rassie Erasmus’s Stormers. The 22-year-old loose forward explains why he made the move from Bloemfontein to Cape Town, how he has settled in so far, and why he prefers blindside flank.

– Daan Human left the Stormers for Toulouse in 2004 a rough diamond, but years spent in the Top 14 against the most unforgiving of props has refined him to the point where he is arguably one of the finest looseheads in world rugby. We met Human in Toulouse to discuss the lure of the euro, lawless scrums and his Springbok ambitions.

– In 2005, Brian O’Driscoll’s Lions tour was cruelly ended in the opening minutes of the first Test against the All Blacks. In 2009, he hopes to put things right.

– Pieter de Villiers is back in the country of his birth after 14 years in France. The former Tricolores prop talks to SA Rugby magazine about his successful career, life in the Cape, and the prospect of playing again.

– The upper crust of English rugby are being buttered up to join clubs across the Channel. Is this the start of a debilitating period for the English game, driven by a credit crunch that does not appear to be crunching the French?

– COLUMNISTS: Jake White on what makes Pierre Spies so good, Marc Hinton on why the NZ Maori should be supported and not slammed, and Clinton van der Berg on why the Golden Lions should move to Soccer City after the 2010 World Cup.